Tourism officials aim to cash in on college-bowl fans

It's hard to tell who is more excited: the college-football teams and their fans or local tourism officials eager to host about 200,000 fans for three bowl games in two weeks.

Scottsdale will host five of the six teams in the Insight and Fiesta bowls, and BCS National Championship Game, from Dec. 28 to Jan. 10.

That includes planeloads of fans of Auburn, which is in Alabama, and Oregon for the title game. Boosters also will be arriving to support Missouri and Iowa in the Insight Bowl, and Oklahoma and Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl.

"What a great way to kick-start the 2011 season. I don't mean the football season, I mean the tourism season," said Mike Surguine, Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau chairman.

None of the games is played in Scottsdale but the city's hotels and restaurants get a significant portion of the tourism dollars generated. In 2007, the first time the Valley hosted three games, a Fiesta Bowl study estimated a $400 million economic impact on Arizona.

Duane Woods, Fiesta Bowl chairman, said that could increase to $420 million this time because of stronger interest in the upgraded Insight Bowl.

Fans in Eugene, Ore., where the university is located, are looking forward to a winter trip to the desert and the great hospitality they get from the Fiesta Bowl, said Dan Rodriguez, Oregon Alumni Association executive director and an Arizona State University graduate.

Auburn has lined up a handful of travel packages that cost about $2,200 for a three-night stay in the Valley, said Lori Ann Summers, an Auburn Alumni Association assistant vice president.

"Our fan interest is enormous," she said. "There's lots of excitement, and the Auburn family stretches far and wide."

That includes about 200,000 alums, about 600 of them in the Phoenix area.

Oregon has close to 180,000, alums and 1,500 of them are in Arizona.

Iowa, Missouri and Oklahoma also have large, loyal fan bases that should bring enthusiastic fans to the Valley.

"(Connecticut) is a question mark, but five of the six teams travel extremely well," Surguine said.

The Huskies, with an 8-4 record and competing in major college football for only 10 years, are unlikely to draw as many fans as the other bowl teams coming to the Valley.

Football fans and alumni will fill tens of thousands of hotel rooms during the 14-day run of bowl games, but TV broadcasts of the three games will persuade even more people to visit the Valley, Surguine said.

The host resorts for the Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship are the Scottsdale Plaza Resort (Oklahoma and Auburn) and Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, (Connecticut and Oregon). The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort at Gila River host the Insight Bowl teams, but the locations for each were not immediately confirmed.

The Scottsdale tourism bureau is adding activities this year to bring more fans to downtown Scottsdale.

That includes a street festival at the Scottsdale Waterfront during the first week of January, when ESPN's college-football show will broadcast from the Marshall Way bridge.